The Battalion
OPINION
Tuesday, February 28,1989
Mail Call
Editor’s note: Because of a misunderstanding earlier this semester, our
subscription to Bloom County was canceled. We are pleased to announce that
Bloom County is back.
Let’s stay for the whole game
EDITOR:
G. Rollie White Coliseum was painted Greek at the beginning of the
Aggie Ladies’ basketball game on Feb. 21. It seemed as though all of the
major fraternities and sororities were represented in large numbers. Banners
followed the rail almost all the way around the student section. It was
encouraging to finally see a turnout at a women’s basketball game.
Disappointment soon followed.
The Greeks did a roll call in conjunction with the Alpha Delta Pi Playday
they were promoting.
Unfortunately, after the enthusiastic roll call a few Greeks decided to bug
out. It is a shame that they did not choose to represent their fraternity or
sorority during the game, when it really counted. The situation worsened.
Evidently a banner contest was going on. The winners were announced at
the halftime break. After halftime, a constant flow of Greeks poured out of
the coliseum.
With only a few minutes left and the Ags needing more support than
ever, a mere 10 percent of the initial Greeks were left to yell. The Ags lost.
I’m not making any judgments on the Greek system and its relations (or
lack of relations) with Aggie spirit, but I do know that it is not an Aggie
tradition to show up to a game just to have a head count and find out the
winner of some Greek contest and then leave.
Aggies stay and fight for the Twelfth Man until the clock says 00:00!
James Reid ’92
Some people appreciate art
EDITOR:
I am writing in resonse to Clay Salisbury’s Feb. 23 letter opposing a fine
arts department at A&M.
First of all, I would like to say that if Mr. Salisbury thinks that fine arts are
only abstract creations consisting of rusty exhaust pipes and discarded
underwear, then he probably thinks fried pork rinds and a six pack of Schlitz
makes a gourmet meal.
Fine arts are for the participatory. If you don’t like it, stay out of it.
Believe it or not, Mr. Salisbury, there are people in this world who
appreciate fine art (which includes dance, music, theatre and cinema as well)
and many of these attend A&M.
If we wish to express our creativity, then let us do so. We’ll gladly leave
you out. It is this kind of close-minded attitude that is helping to stagnate the
cultural and intellectual growth of this University.
If you can make the broad generalization that those who enjoy the fine
arts are “suspiciously limp-wristed,” then we can make the generalization that
you are merely a tobacco-chewing country bumpkin.
Danejah Arafat ’91
Accompanied by 13 signatures
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Racial differences inseparable
EDITOR:
J. Frank Hernandez should be commended for his excellent viewpoints
about the inseparability of race and culture and for his observations on the
general attitudes concerning race, culture and racism on this campus.
For hundreds of years history has shown us examples of “majority”
bodies making decisions for the “minority” bodies. This is especially true of
American society. Others cannot say what is best for everybody, not only
because of cultural differences but also because of the lack of exposure to
other ethnic groups and because of a lack of experience.
Schools should go a step further when teaching ethnic culture and history
and expound on their importance in American History and not just their
existence. Education could do wonders when there is a lack of understanding
among cultures.
I’ve been an observer of the “us versus them” mentality for quite some
time, and as a black female, I realize it goes farther than skin deep and even
farther than culture. It goes down to experience.
Anja Demetria Boykin ’90
Official English
EDITOR:
I am writing in response to Mr. Timm Doolen’s column concerning
official English.
First of all, I would like to state that I am a member of the Hispanic
community and a proponent of the official English amendment. These two
facts in conjunction with each other are rare. This rarity is not because
Hispanics don’t wish to learn English, but because of the attitude Mr. Doolen
and many others take in dealing with this issue.
Mr. Doolen, when you wrote that racism is a weak defense for critics of
official English, you surely did not understand the emotions this measure
creates within most Hispanic communities.
These emotions cannot be ignored. To do so will surely alienate the
Hispanic community and kill the proposed amendment.
Also, Mr. Doolen, your observation that our country is filled with an
Anglo culture does very little in helping me explain this proposal to my
Hispanic grandmother or her Asian friends. You must realize they are from
cultures other than the Anglo culture.
I had thought the United States was the leading factor in this country’s
greatness.
Mr. Doolen, don’t offend critics of official English, and please don’t
offend official English supporters'.
Peter Fernandez Jr. ’91
Letters to the editor shoidd not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the light to edit letters
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must include the classification, address and telephone number of the writer.
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Leslie Guy, Managing Editor
Dean Sueltenfuss, Opinion Page Editor
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Scot Walker, Wire Editor
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Doug Walker, Sports Editor
Jay Janner, Art Director
Mary-Lynne Rice, Entertainment Edi
tor
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2
I told Japan’s;
prime minister
to allow in
more U.S. 0bod$
And pressed him
to contribute
more to allied
defense...
Heh-heh... who
would 5 ve thought
I’d 0et shot down
by Japan again?
What happened to the good ol
days of Barbie and G.I. Joe?
Does it seem there’s never enough
time to get everything done? Do you
frequently find yourself asking, “Where
did the day go?”
If the answer is affirmative, you’re
not alone. People all over the world ex
perience this phenomenon every day.
I don’t know about you, but I find
this very disturbing. I think it may just
be a conspiracy — or a really bad joke.
Stephanie
Stribling
Columnist
program seemed like a two-hour,
length feature, complete with intricm
plots and provocative characters.
fro:
dor.:
Now, when you arrive home
class or work, you have just enough
to do everything that needs to be
By the time you’ve finished, it’salreaa
way past your bedtime. And ifyouti
to catch up on lost sleep now, you pi
ably wouldn’t wake up until about 2011
:rifi boxes
f© om
And if it’s a really bad joke, then Fa
ther Time is the guilty comedian. He’s
sitting up in the heavens somewhere
saying, “Watch this guys. This one’s a
real screamer. Let’s see what happens if
I knock a minute off every day for the
rest of their lives — throw ‘em into fast-
forward, so to speak. By the time they’re
50, they’ll be living in reverse.”
was always time to practice your rock-
kicking skills. Or if you were like me,
you practiced your high-wire act on six
inches of curb.
[•-
Yeah buddy, that’s a real screamer all
right. When do we get the punchline?
If you rode your bike to school, you
had plenty of time to re-enact an entire
Evel Knevel performance. Or perhaps
you and your buddies had contests to
see who could ride farther with “no
hands.”
When you were a kid, the times]
between dinner and bedtime lasted
least 72 hours, and each individuals
tivity was an event in itself: a quick g:
of “hide and seek,” a couple of sit-com
and maybe a few telephone calls
If you were a girl, you had time
Barbie married off to Ken before bet
time. If you were a boy, you had time
send G.I. joe on a reconnaissancemt
sion to the jungles of the Amazon.
If it keeps up at this rate, by the time
I’m 50 I might as well go right back to
bed when my alarm goes off in the
morning.
These days, getting to school is a con
test in itself. A contest in which the
grand prize is a 7-by-15-foot hole in
which to temporarily plant your vehicle
— sans parking ticket.
These days, you don't even havetii
to introduce Barbie and Ken, much la
set them up on a date. And you usuJ
have only enough time to get G.I
It wasn’t like this when we were kids.
Kid-time operated on a completely dif
ferent clock. Kid-time had 360-minute
hours, 72-hour days, and month-long
weeks.
When you talk about time, it’s nec
essary to qualify it as kid-time or adult
time.
Getting to work is a race against red
lights. The contest here is to see if you
can manage to get to work in one piece
while putting on clothes, applying lip
stick, and fixing your hair — all at the
same time.
enlisted. On a good day, you mightbi
time to get him out of boot camp.
vaa
When you were a kid, summer
lion was roughly equivalent to a year
adult-time. You had time to cotiquertli
world in a summer, and probably
lieved that you would.
I have found adult-time to have no
more than four hours in any one day.
Our week lasts about a day, and our
year generally lasts a month.
When you were a kid, a single class
lasted at least 37 hours. The clock be
came this hideous man-made monster
designed as a perpetual reminder of
your misery. You were just sure that if
you stared at it long enough, you mag
ically could make it read 3:15 p.m.
But waiting for summer to arrived
sheer torture.
When you were a kid, a day was prac
tically a lifetime. You could pack an
endless number of activities into one
day.
Today, class lasts just long enough for
you to find a comfortable spot in your
chair.
That’s one big advantage of beingfl
adult. We don’t have to wait as long
things to happen. When you werea
surviving those last few clays in May®
enough to make you wet the I
night.
Before setting out for school in the
morning, you had time to catch the lat
est episode of “Speed Racer” or “Clutch
Cargo.” You also had ample time to cre
ate an interesting assortment of animal
shapes with your breakfast food.
When you were a kid, 3:15 p.m. was a
gift. It was like Christmas every day, 250
days a year. At 3:15 p.m., you became
the proud owner of “the rest of the
day,” which in kid-time was roughly
equivalent to our adult week.
These days, there’s , hardly e
time to pick out a flattering swimsuit^
fore it’s time to pull the wool out
mothballs.
I may have a little chat with
Time — I’d be willing to pay the maun
give me just a few extra minutesaday
These days you should consider your
self lucky to get breakfast. Even if you
have time to create animal shapes with
your breakfast food, there’s not a lot
you can do with toast and a cup of cof
fee. Oatmeal, on the other hand, has
limitless potential.
When you were a kid, you could me
ander home at your leisure in 30 min
utes or less. That same trek would take
an adult in a hurry at least two hours.
It wouldn’t be a difficult task,
add one hour to every' day, once a year
If you walked to school as a kid, there
When you arrived back home, you
had the balance of the afternoon before
dinner to spend with Gilligan, Granny,
the Beav and Lucy. Each 30-minute
That would mean by the time I’m 3)’
my day will average about 72 hours
which would be just about right.
Stephanie Stribling is a senior
nalism major and a columnist for ft
Battalion.
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